Top-operating mechanism for automobiles.



S. F. DUPREE, IR., G. RITTER 6L A. HECKMAN.

TOP OPERATING MECHANISM FOR AUTOMOBILES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV.26. 1913.

Patented Jun'e 15, 1915.

5 SHEETS-SHEET I.

I MK QQIMLM'ALOW I S. DUPREE, In., G. RITTER & A. HECKMAN.

TOP OPERATING MECHANISM FOR AUTOMOBILES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 26. i913.

Patented June 15, 1915.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVENTORS WITNESSES S. F. DUPREE,1R., G. RITTER & A. HECKMAN. TOP OPERATING MEGHANISM Fon AUTOMOBILES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 26,1913- I l Patented June 15, 1915.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

Y NMI-"Wm v wrrNEssEs INVEN'ronL s. F. DUPREE, n., G. RITTER & A. HECKMAN.

TOPv OPERATING MECHANISM FOR AUTOMOBILES.

5 SHEE'Ts-suen 4.

filflllllllllll!!!Ilillllllllfllllllllllllllllli WITNESSES S. F. DUPREE, JR., G. RITTER & A. HECKMAN..

TOP OPERATING MECHANISM FOR AUTOMOBILES. APPLICATION 111.51) Nov.2e. 1913.

Patented June 15,1915.

5 SHEETS--SHEET 5.

WITNESSES 4 v INVENTORS .W if i y ci,...L www. Q93. www@ Mq @M1 am@ .made .Tin the details of construction and ari nates the 'body ofangg-autornnbile, aridf3lt1lie' i SAMUEL E. DUPREE, an., eEoneE inrmEia.Y Ann AUG-UST HECKIVIAN, OF WILKINSBURG,

:; 1 EENNSYLVNIA.

larsneo.

T0 all whom #mag/concern: f v f i* f Be it known thatl we, Samnaun-Francis DUPREE,4 Jr., GEORGE RITTER, and'` 'AUGUST- HEOKMAN, all of l/Vilkinsburg, in thecountyf of yAllegheny and: State of Pennsylvania, have-invented a new and nseftillmprovement in Top-Operating Mechanism 'for Automobiles, of ywhich thefollowing is a fulh' clear, and exact descriptiomreference 'being had to the -acconipanyingl drawings, Iornnng f partfof this specification, inwhich-f Figure-1 is a side view of an automobile bodyand top having only-inventionapplied thereto; Fie'. 2- is a View partly inside elevation and partly. in section showing the oper'- ating mechanism at one side of the vehicle on a'larger scale; Fig.- 3 is a plan viewof the same; Figs. i, 5-and l6 are detail views hereinafter more fully described, Fig. be ing asectionhon the line V-LV o fvFig. l; Fig.` 7-is a rear vievvl of theoperatmg mechanism', Fig. `S is 1a wiring diagram showing the electric circuits Figs. 9 and 10faredetail views of the automatic motor switch; and

Fig. 11 is a view similar to Fig. 1, but showing our invention applied to adifferent construction of vehicle top. l l

Our? invention has relation to mechanism for raising and lowering the topsof automobiles.

The object of the invention is to provide mechanism of ysimple and eiiective character whereby an automobile top may be quickly ,fand easily raised or lowered.` In thefpreferred torni of our invention, this is acremplis-hed bysimply closing the circuitv of an electric motor which, through suitable operating' gearing, acts to raise and lower the topf? Our invention may, however, be carried voutby means of manually operated gearing and the term motive means j` as used in the appended claims, is intended to include'handoperated as well as power-operated mechanism.

Our invention will be best understood by reference v'to the accompanying drawings, which `will nowbe described, it being premised.^h`owever. that various changes may be rangement-.of the several parts, without dejk parting from the-spiritland I"scopeof lour in vention, `irs-"defined 'in the appended claims. f

In these. drawings, the fniirneral 2 de'sig ror-ernnairrire iancnaiirsar Een AUTOMOBILES.

,starteten of team Patent.' Patenten .rane i5, i915. application aieafnov'ember zaiels., 'serial no. 803,169. i

l yrtop, which may be, in general, of any usual construction.

brace,"7 a front brace and 8 'a horizontal bracing connection between the bows 4 and 5.

In accordance with our invention, the front bows 4 are provided with small roller Itrucks 8a at their lower ends, these trucks beingv mounted for travel in longitudinal guideways or tracks 9, secured .to the inner ysideso'f the vehiclebody 2, as most clearly Ashown in Figs. 4t and 5. These trucks may be of any suitable character. lWe prefer to provide their lwheels l0 `with antit'riction bearf'ings 11 and `also with antifriction thrust bearings 12. By means ofthesebearings, the tricks will move freely in the guideways 9 without friction or binding. The upper portions of the bows 4: arey pivotally connected'at 13 with the lower portions 4a, whichcarry these trucks, the latter portions being offset laterally from the edges of the; vehicle bdy shown in Fig. 5. Movement on the pivotal connection 13 may be restrained'v in one direction' by theilug or finger 13a (Fig. 4). The bows are preferably made vin two vertically telescoping sections 4- and ft". with van inclosed tension spring 14:, connecting the `two telescoping members, as shown in Fig. l. The purpose of this construction will hereinafter appear.

The lower end of the how 5 at each side' is pivoted on the studs 15, and secured to the lower end of the bow is a segment 16, having its periphery provided with worm 7gear teeth adapted for engagement with a worm 17 on a side shaft 18. vThis shaft 18 carries a loose sleeve 19, provided at one end with a bevel gear wheel 20, and at the -opposite end lwith a clutch member 21. The clutch member 21 is adapted to be engaged and disengaged by a coacting-clutch inember 2") which is keyed to the shaft 18, but is capable of endwise movement thereon. rlhe bevel gear wheel 20 meshes with a bevel gear 23, mounted on a short transverse shaft 24.

f'lhe shaft 24 at its opposite end carries a 'bevel gear wheel 25, Whlch meshes with a bevel gear Wheel 26 on a vertical shaft 27. The vertical shaft'27 is connected at its lower end, throughbevel gear wheels 28 and '2 9 witha ja'cksliaftz, which extends trans- '.versely' "through theA vehicle body. This shaft ispreferably driven by an electric motor 31, which is connected to said shaft vthrough the gears32. We also preferably end. This wheel meshes with a similar wheel 36, which is loosely sleeved on a shaft 37, parallel with the shaft 18. The' wheel 36 of the shaft 37 has clutch teeth 38, which are adapted vto be engaged by the teeth-of a coperatingclutch vmember 39, which is secured to the shaft 37 to rotate therewith, but is capable of a reciprocating sliding motion thereon. The shaft 37 has fixed thereto a beveled gear wheel 40, which meshes with a beveled gear wheel 41 on a short transverse shaft 42. The shaft 42 carries a spur wheel or pinion 43, which meshes with a similar wheel or pinion 44, loosely sleeved 'on one of the studs or stub shafts 15. The sleeve of the wheel 44 carries a bevel gear wheel 45, which meshes with a similar wheel 46, secured to the lower end of a threaded vrod 47, which extends upwardly within the bow 5. Mounted on the threaded ortion of said rod is a nut 48, having a ug 49, which projects outwardly through a vertically extending slot 50 in said bow and to which is pivotally connected the rear end of the brace 8. When the rod47 is rotated by the action of the -gearing in the manner hereinafter described, the vnut 48 is prevented from turning with said rod by reason of the edges of the slot 50. Said nut is therefore.,

caused to travel up or down on the rod according to the direction of rotation of the latter.

The numeral 51 is a three-armed lever which is pivoted at 52. One of thevertical arms of ythis lever isv pivotally connected tothe clutch member 22; the other vertical arm is similarly connected to the clutch member 39; and the third rearwardly projecting arm carries a roller 53, Vwhich is adapted to engage the surface of the cam 54. This cam is secured to a short transverse shaft 55, having thereon a spur wheel 56, meshing with a pinion 57 on another shaft 58. The shaft 58 has secured thereto a worm wheel 59, which is engaged with and driven by a worm' 60, on the vertical shaft 27.

61 is a tension spring which is connected to the horizontal arm of the three-armed lever and causes said arm to follow, the conment of gearing just describedis duplicated carries at each side of the vehicle, and that the two sets of gearing will be simultaneously opeorated when the jack shaft 30 is rotated.

i The operation is as follows: supposing the vehicle top to be in its lowered position and it is desired to raisen it. The'motor-controlling switch 62 (which may be located' within convenient reach of thedrivers seat, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1), is moved to close the circuit of the motor. At this time, the clutches and the three-armed clutch-operating lever are in the positions shown in Fig. 2. Consequently, the shaft 18 is rotated through the gear connections described, while the shaft 37 remains idle. The

rotation of the shaft 18 causes the worm 17 to move the segments 16 in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 2, thereby movingnthe bows 5 from their backwardly folded position into the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2. During this movement, the worm 60 has been operating the train of gearing,

connected to the shaft 55, carrying the cam 54. A slight further movement of thls cam from the positionshown in Fig. 2 causes theI roller 53 to fall on4 to the low portion of the cam. Thisthrows the three-armed leverv 51 to a position to `reverse the two clutches. That is to say, the clutch member 22 will be thrown out of clutch engagement with the sleeve of the beveled gear wheel 20, and the clutch member 39 will be thrown into engagement with the sleeve of the ybeveled gear wheel 36.' The shaft 18 now ceases to revolve and shaft 37 commences to'revolve. This, through the gearing described., rotates the rod or shaft 47 and causes the nut 48 to travel upwardly until the brace 8 is carried to the position indicated in Fig. 1. The movement of the bows 5 and the movement of the braces 8, just described, causes the roller trucks 8 to lmove forwardly in `their guides, bringing the front bows 4 to the position shown in Fig. 1. This completes thel raising of the top. As the bows 4 come to the position shown in Fig, 1, one of them is preferably engaged by the spring catch 63, which holds the bows in their forward raised positions. When it is desired to lower the top, this catch may be released either by hand pressure on the handle 64 of the catch lever, or this may be effected by providing connections, such as indicated at 65 in Fig. 1, with a foot lever or button-66. The forward braces 7.are provided with pins or studs at their lower ends. These pins or studs are adapted to-travel in guide slots 68, carried by plates 69, secured to the inner sides of the bows 4, l as shown at 67. Each slot 68 is provided with a curved offset 70, at its upper end and with a somewhat .similar but reversed offset 71 at its lower. fend (see Fig. 6). When `the parts haveibe'en moved to the positions beforedescribed, Athe down lto their lower position, the spring catch is released, as before described, andthe switch 62 is reversed. Duringthe firstpart of the operation, the clutches remain in their reversed positions, last described, but the shaft 37 isrotated in the opposite direction.

This causes the nut 48 to travel downwardly on the rod 47, thus lowering the brace 8 and pulling backwardly the bow 4. As soon as the high part of the cam 54 contacts with the roller 53, the clutches are again thrown to the position shown in Fig. 2, and the shaft ,18 is rotated in the reverse direction to that first described. This actuatcs the segment 16 tomove the bow backwardly and downwardly..` This draws the front bow backwardly and permits ythe entire top to assume its lowered folded position. As the front bows 4 move backwardly to their folded positionsl (and again,`when they move y forwardly from this position) it will be seen that it isnecessary to slightly increase their length, owing to the arcs of movement of the` upper ends of the bows 5. The bows 5 may be provided with projections 5a to engage the bows 4 when the latter are moved back, and therebyvelongate the bows 4 against the v tension ofthe said springs. This change in length is provided for by the telescoping connection of the front bows and their spring connections'14, before described.v It will be seen that, inasmuch as the center of movement of the hows 5 is coincident with the centers ofl the gears .44 and 45, the gears 44 will readily roll on the gearsy43, as the bows 5 are raised and lowered.

The switch 62 may be of any suitable character. In Fig. 8, we have illustrated diarammatically the motor circuit. In this iagram, A designates the armature of the motor and F the fields. provided with one set of contacts c, which close the circuit of the motor to rotate it in one direction, and with another set of conv tacts c which act to reverse the field F to The switch 62 isA such cut-out is illustrated diagra 'inatically in Fig. 8. Itsgeneral arrangemeiitl is shown in rear elevation in Fig. 7 and further details thereof are shown in Figs. 9 and 10. As shown in these figures, the cut-out swltc'h comprises three parallel conductor bars 72, 73 and 74, to which are connected three different leads from the motor circuit. The bar 72 is provided at one end with an insulating portion 75, and the bar 73 is provided at its opposite end with a similar insulating portion 76. 77 is a transverse bridging conductor which is sleeved to slide back and forth on the conductors 72, 73 and 74. This' member has a nut portion 7 8, which engages the thread of a threaded shaft 79, connected at one end by gears 80, with the jack shaft 30, as best shown in Fig. 7. When the bridg- A ing member 77 is in the position shown in Fig. 9, it forms a circuit connection between the conductors 73 and 74, but is in contact with the insulating portion 75 of the c on' ductor 72. When moved to its other extreme position, it hridges the conductors 72 and 74, but engages the insulating portion 76 of the conductor 73. As the details of this switch and the motor circuits form no part of our invention, it will be unnecessary to follow out the circuit paths indetail, and the positions of the switch 62 and of this cut-out switch. These circuits may be readily traced on Fig. 8, if desired. It will be readily seen, however, that in each eXtreme position of the member 77, the motor circuit will be open, thereby stopping the motor. ,The thread of the shaft 79 and the gears 80 are so proportioned that lthis opening of the circuit will occur in one direction when the bows are 1n the position shown 1n F1g. 1,

and will occur in the. other direction when these bows have been moved to their back-'j wardly folded positions. VieV preferably provide thesupportingstops 81-'for said bows when in their forward positions, thereby relieving the gearing from strains. The gearing at each side of the vehicle may be protected by suitable casings, such` as indicated at 82 in Fig. 7. The major por tion of this gearing, together-'with thejack shaft, the motor and the automatic cut-out switch, may be conveniently located within f -the body of the vehicle underneath and at the side portions of the rear seat, as shown in Figs. 1 and 7. By locating this mechanism in this manner, it is almost entirely out of sight and it is'also'protected from` the weather, dust, dirt, etc.

Inasmuch as the guideways orf'tracks 9 for the roller trucks ofthe front rollers necessarily 'have port/ions thereof carried by the rear side doors S3, andas it is necessary that these doors shall be closed when the top is being raised or lowered, we preferably provide means whereby the circuit of thev motor will only he c1osed when b9th`-vside, j,

doors are closed.y 'This may be readily effected by carrying the motor circuit in series through contacts 84 controlled by the-rear doors. That is to say,the contacts 84 are closed, and therefore, the motor circuit is closed only when the doors are closed.

In Fig. 11, we have illustrated the application of our invention to an automobile ofy the roadster type having' a diiferentlypconstructed and lighter' top. In this form of top, there are no front bows which require to be moved forward and back in raising and lowering the top. All that is necessary is to move the bows 85 on their pivotal centers and to raise and lower the side braces 86. The operating mechanism for this form of top is in all respects similar vto that before described. vThe bows 85 are moved by the same gears, 'and so also the nuts 87 which travel in said bows and which are similar to the traveling nuts before described. The only difference is that the braces 86 connected to these nuts extend directly to the forward part of the vehicle top instead of to movable front bows. 1n this form, therefore, the tracks or guideways for the front bows are unnecessary and are omitted. XVe have, however,.in this figure shown the hand crank 88, for raising and lowering the top, as extending forwardly underneath the seat from the shaft 34, instead of rearwardly therefrom as in Fig. 1'.

They advantages of readily appreciated by those familiar with the raising and lowering of automobile tops. This operation has usually been carried out by hand and is a somewhat' difficult one, especially for one person. The tops are heavy and care must be exercised in raising and lowering'them to see that the portions of the braces which are usually detached at their lower` ends do not contact with and abrade or otherwise mar the vehicle body. Our invention provides mechanism which can be operated either by an electric motor or by hand or mechanical power,.and by whiclf'the raising and lowering can be substantially all effected without manual movement of the bows and braces. The only hand manipulation of these parts which is required is the moving of the braces 7 from one position to the other. In other respects, the entire top is moved from its lowered to its raised position and vice versa through the action of the described mechanism.

Our invention can -be applied to a car at a relatively low cost; does not in any way detract from the appearance of the car, being practically al-l concealed; and the raising and lowering of the top at any time desired is a simple and easy matter.

While We have described our preferred mechanism in detailit will be obvious that the details may be changed in various ways.

Thus, we may employ any suitable arrangeourinvention wi-ll bement of gearing, the details of bow construction'and arrangement may be changed, and any suitable form of electric switches lnay be provided for controlling the operation of the motor, when the motor is employed.

We claim:

1. A folding vehicle top having pivoted rear frame .members and forwardly and backwardly sliding foldable front frame members, adjustable braces between the two members, gearing connected members to move the `same on their pivots, other gearing connected to the bracing members, and motive means for actuating said gearings, substantially as described.

2. The combination with a vehicle body having side guides or tracks, of a foldable top having frame members mounted to run in said guides or tracks, gearing for moving said members, and a motor for actuating said gearing, portions of said tracks being Icarried by the vehicle doors and said doors to the rear 3. A foldable vehicle top having hollow,

slotted, pivoted, rear bows, and front frame members, gearing connected to said bows to move the same on their pivots, threaded'rods extending through said bows and nuts arranged to travel on said rods, gearingfor rotating the rods, and bracing members extending from the nuts to the front frame members of said top, substantially as de. scribed.

Y 4. A foldable vehicle top having a foldable frame member, gearing for moving said framevmember on its pivot to raise and lower the same, said top also having a brace member connected thereto, and other gearing for moving the brace member into and out of bracing position, substantially as described.

5. A'foldable vehicle top having a hollow, slotted bow, gearing connected to said bow to move it on its pivot, a threaded rod ex tending through the bow, a nut arranged to travel on said rod," gearing for rotating the rod, and a top-bracing member connected to the nut and to the top together with means for operating said gearing, substantially as described.

6. Thev combination with a folding vehicle top having pivoted rear bows, slidable front bows, and connections between the rear and front bows, of gearing for moving the rear bows on their pivots, other gearing for effecting a sliding movement of the front bows, motlve means for actuating both gearings, clutch mechanism coperating with said gearings for throwing one gearing out of operation and the other gearing into operation, and clutch-shifting mecha.- nism controlled by the movements of 'said `gearings, together with other. means 'actuated by the motor for controlling its own supply circuit; substantially as described.

' 7.Tlie combination with a folding ve- 5, hicle top having pivot'ed rear bows, slidable front bows and connections between *rear* landfront bows, of gearingformoving the 4rear-bows on their p1vots, other caring Vfor effecting a sliding movement o the front A10 ings, clutch, mechanism coperating 'saidugearings for throwing one gearmg out of operation and the othergearing vinto op-4 eration, and clutch-shifting mechanism con-v trolled by the movements substantially as described.

bows, motive means for actuatingboth gearwith of said gearingsj;

' 8.- Thegcombination with `a folding ve- .:z" fhicle top v having pivoted rear' bows, and slidable front bows,'-a gearing connected .to 21.20. vehicle for turning Said bows on. their pivots,

one of the rear bows' at each` side 'of the other gearing.A connected tothe front bows to eect 'a sliding vmovement of the fro or alter- 9. A folding-vehicle to having'pivoted rear -frame members, -an

braces connecting the frontand rearmembers, 'gearing connectedV tothe rear mem- ,.-.bers,` 'other gearing connected tothe braces,

ows, a mo? tive device arranged todrive'both earings, and automatic clutch mechanism fg f j na'tely 4connecting the said device with one y .and Athe other of saidv gearings; substan- =1 I tially as described. 30

,l forwardly andbackwaidly sliding front. frame members,

a motive means for actuating both4 gearing's, and automatic clutch mechanism for-throwing the two gearings alternatelyintoand out of operation;l substantially as describedugi 10. .A vehicle having a foldable ttlpjsaid top 'having' pivotedrear frame members and forwardly and backwardly, slidablev front frame members, 'braces connecting the front and rear members, and'actuating shaft ex-` tending transversely of the rear portion of the vehicle independentlyT of the axles, gearing for connecting each end portion .of said shaft with the adjacent rear bows, other gearing for connecting each end portion of said shaft with the brace members, and

.clutch `mechanism for controlling the two gearings; substantiallyas described..v c 11. A vehicle having .a foldable top, said Ytop having lpivoted rear bows and slidable front bows, groovedguide ways on the sides,

of the vehicle body with which said front bows have.. a slidable engagement, motive means connected to the rear bows to move,

them on their fgrlzivots, and actuating connections to the ont' bows to slide them in said guides; substantially as described.-

In testimony whereof, we have hereunto set our hands. f

S. F. DUPREE, Jn. GEORGE RITTER.. AUGUST HECKMAN.

Witnesses:

H. M. CoRwIN, GEO. H. PARMELEE..

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